238.2 AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MICROBIOLOGY PRICES, David
Goodman and Jamie Cameron
238.3 PORTLAND PRESS LTD. ANNOUNCES FREE ONLINE ARCHIVE,
Press Release
238.4 JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL RESEARCH CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP,
Press Release
238.1 COMMENT ON RECENT PRICING NEWS
Dana Roth, Caltech, dzrlib@library.Caltech.edu
[Received November 8, 1999]
I am concerned at what I see as unwarranted criticism of society and non-profit publishers for raising their subscription fees. These price increases are probably necessary due to the fact that most 'society and non-profits' do not have excessive profit margins to subsidize their electronic versions, as do the commercial publishers.
The recent complaints about the Journal of Mammalogy are as unfair today as the complaints about Annual Reviews were last year. The Journal of Mammalogy only cost $47.18 for 1999 so I am surprised that they didn't raise the subscription price by 100 or 150%. The same rationale is probably true for the other society publishers, who do not have an exceedingly large membership base.
The $1300 price increase for the ASM titles is trivial when compared with the subscription price of a single Elsevier or Academic title. The solution to the problem, especially when society publications are generally the first rank titles and commercial titles are often not, is selectivity. Since one of a librarian's main responsibilities is selection, even if it offends some of their users, the choice should be obvious. On a brighter note, the American Chemical Society package B (online + print) will actually cost less in 2000, even taking into account the slight decrease in the number of titles offered.
238.2 AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MICROBIOLOGY PRICES
David Goodman, Princeton University, dgoodman@princeton.edu,
and
Jamie Cameron, Director, Publications, Professional Engineering Publishing, j_cameron@imeche.org.uk
> From David Goodman, received November 8, 1999:
I am not sure where Frank Norman obtained his prices, but the ASM web site (http://journals.asm.org/subscriptions/cost.shtml#intcost) gives the year 2000 US prices for the journals he listed as:
Molecular & Cellular Biology. $644
Journal of Virology. $772
Journal of Bacteriology. $688
Microbiol & Molec Biol Reviews. $320
J Clin Microbiol. $306
which is considerably higher than the figures as stated in the Newsletter. The cost for the 10 titles together is, though, the same as stated: $4671.
This library intended to replace some of the print with the electronic; but since the html only is available to us, we do not regard this as an equivalent replacement and will not be able to do that. We have not yet decided whether we will be willing to pay the 100% supplement for html only; in the past I at any rate have been unwilling to accept this format unless provided without additional charge. If the ASM, as they have claimed to me, wishes to accelerate the replacement of print with electronic, they are going about it in a singularly counterproductive way.
It should be noted that they have a special $165 member rate for electronic access to the full pdf version of all 10 journals (the membership itself costs $100).
> From Jamie Cameron, received November 18, 1999:
A crucial issue missing from Frank Norman's contribution is the amount of material to be published by ASM in 2000 as compared with 1999. Is it going to be the same?
238.3 PORTLAND PRESS LTD ANNOUNCES FREE ONLINE ARCHIVE
Press release dated November 19, 1999, submitted by Adam Marshall, Portland
Press, Ltd., adammarshall@portlandpress.com
From 1 January 2000 the online archive for Portland Press journals for all papers published before this date will be available free to anyone with Internet access anywhere in the world. Every year in January, the online content for all the previous years will become free. Portland Press is committed to maintaining a secure archive to ensure continued access to its journals for the future.
Full free access to the current year of any online journal will be restricted to institutions that have a subscription to the printed version. The journals published by Portland Press are:
Biochemical
Journal
Biochemical Society Transactions
Biotechnology and Applied Biochemistry
Clinical Science
Glyn Jones (Managing Director, Portland Press) said: "As part of our ongoing commitment to disseminating the molecular life sciences, we are taking advantage of the capabilities of online publishing to make the archives available to as wide an audience as possible."
The full texts of papers in these journals are published in advance of the printed versions, in some cases several weeks in advance. Online papers include Medline and inter-journal linking and can feature video clips or 3-D images.
Portland Press Ltd is the not-for-profit publishing subsidiary of the Biochemical Society. Further information about publications and society contact:
Adam
Marshall
Portland Press Ltd
59 Portland Place
London W1N 3AJ, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7580 5530
Fax: +44 (0)20 7323 1136
http://www.portlandpress.com
Secure archive. All online journals are maintained on servers at the Portland Press offices in London and the Portland Press distribution centre in Colchester to ensure that there is continued access in the event of a failure at either site.
Journal web sites:
Biochemical
Journal
www.BiochemJ.org
ISSN: 0264-6021
Volume 345-352 (24 issues) £1110.00/US$1950.00
Biochemical
Society Transactions
www.portlandpress.com/bst
ISSN: 0300-5127 Volume 28 (6 issues) £178.00/US$305.00
Biotechnology
and Applied Biochemistry
bab.portlandpress.com
ISSN: 0885-4513
Volume 31-32 (6 issues) £143.00/US$250.00
Clinical
Science
cs.portlandpress.com
ISSN: 0143-5221 Volume 98-99 (12 issues) £290.00/US$525.00
238.4 JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL RESEARCH CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP
Press release dated 22 November 1999, submitted by Christopher Marshall, Royal
Society of Chemistry, marshallc@rsc.org
From January 2000, the monthly Journal of Chemical Research will be owned and published by Scientific Reviews Ltd.
The journal, which began publication in 1977, was set up as a joint venture by the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker, the Société Français de Chimie and the Royal Society of Chemistry. The three organisations are confident that Science Reviews Ltd will maintain the journal's high standards and that the change of ownership will be seamless. The editorial policy of Journal of Chemical Research will remain unchanged, together with its vigorous refereeing system, and Professor A G Davies FRS, of University College London, and Dr J R Hanson, of Sussex University, will continue to be on the Management Board. The other members of the Editorial Board are Professor R.L. Richards of the John Innes Institute, University of East Anglia, Dr. John Boulton, University of East Anglia and Dr. Robert Coombes, Brunel University.
Dr Peter Farago, Chief Executive of Science Reviews Ltd says: 'We shall ensure that Journal of Chemical Research maintains and strengthens its service to the academic community'.
Science Reviews Ltd is the publishing division of the Research Communications Foundation, an international educational body. The educational organisation publishes a number of scholarly journals and has offices in Europe, at 41/43 Green Lane, Northwood, Middlesex HA6 3AE, UK and in North America, at 155 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 500, Chicago, Il 60601, USA (E-Mail: jcr@scilet.com).
Subscriptions to Journal of Chemical Research for 2000 will continue to be handled by Turpin Distribution Services Limited (TDSL), Blackhorse Road, Letchworth, Herts SG6 1HN, UK. TDSL has already sent out subscription renewal notices for the coming year. The 2000 prices are as follows:
Part S (Synopses) and Part M (Microfiche): 12 issues a year. Annual Subscription: £550 (plus VAT in UK)/$960.
Part S (Synopses) and Part M (Miniprint): 12 issues a year. Annual Subscription: £550/$960.
The December 1999 issue of Journal of Chemical Research is the last one to be published by the RSC. Science Reviews Ltd took over all work in progress from 1st November. The Royal Society of Chemistry is sure that the new owners of Journal of Chemical Research will keep you informed about their plans to develop the journal in the coming months. In the meantime, should you have any unanswered questions, please contact:
Sales
and Customer Care Department,
Royal Society of Chemistry,
Thomas Graham House,
Science Park, Milton Road,
Cambridge CB4 0WF, UK.
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 432360
Fax: +44 (0) 1223 423429
E-Mail: sales@rsc.org
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Telephone: 919 929-3513; Fax: 919 960-0847. Editorial Board: Keith Courtney
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